Veteran Journalist Calls For Media Blackout To Protest Government’s Press Regulation Move
The veteran journalist says it is important for the law to be disobeyed because it violates freedom of speech.
Nosa Igiebor, a veteran journalist and co-founder of The Tell Magazine, has urged Nigerian media to be ready for a total media blackout as a protest against moves by the Nigerian Government to stifle free speech and regulate the press in the country
Igiebor told The ICIR in an interview on the proposed amendment of the Nigeria Press Council Act that the media should also disobey the law if the government goes ahead with it.
HeĀ said that the law should be disobeyed because it violatesĀ the freedom of speech, noting that the law could only be functional if Nigerians complied.
According to him, the press could go to court to challenge the law, but they should also make it inoperable by disobeying it.
āThe law will only be applicable if you obey that law. When a law is passed and you know this law is against your freedom, why would you obey it?ā Igiebor asked.
The former editor said the Nigerian governmentās proposed amendment was not only an attempt to stifleĀ press freedom but also a violation of all Nigeriansā freedom of speech.
He reiterated that Nigerians had no businessĀ obeying laws that would gag them and challenge their freedom.
The Nigerian Government has been making efforts to restrict media space following the suspension of the operations of Twitter in the country on Friday, June 4, 2021.
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